FOR some years, Opera North has been pushing back the boundaries.
They've experimented with different formats, they've brought comedy, farce, tragedy to the operatic stage in a way few other companies have even sought to countenance.
But their real claim to fame must be their treatment of musicals. In a programme note, general director Richard Mantle talks about the debate raging around whether opera companies should even be thinking about putting on musicals. Obviously Opera North has a very firm view and, judging by the reception, they should not be deflected from that stance.
One Touch of Venus was first created on Broadway in 1943 and is a heady combination of the talents of musician Kurt Weill, the humorist S J Perelman, and the comic poet Ogden Nash.
It's a farce with a string of over-the-top characters, a far-fetched plot, some infectious music and zany humour.
For humour, none could match Christianne Tisdale who sang Molly Grant, a fine voice and one which could mimic many styles. The hapless barber, Rodney Hatch, sung by Loren Geeting, was equally at home in his role, while Gloria Kramer - Jessica Walker and Carole Wilson as Gloria's mother - were caricatures of what we'd expect from comic black-and-white films of the 1940s.
The sugary overtones of Venus, played by Karen Coker, palled after a while but there was little to fault the tight production of Tim Albery, the always expert chorus of Opera North and the fine orchestral playing led by James Holmes.
